The Stevenage mother of a transgender woman whose daughter tragically died days before she was due to receive confirmation of the hormone treatment she needed has bravely spoken out about the lack of support her child was given from the NHS.

A coroner at Poplar Coroners’ Court on Thursday found Synestra De Courcy, 23, died from cocaine and mephedrone toxicity on July 26 this year. Synestra, was born a boy but at the time of her death was hoping to undergo full gender reassignment through hormone therapy treatment. She attended St Christopher school in Letchworth, where she was a high achiever known as Alex, rising to become head boy, going on to study cosmetic science at the University of the Arts in London.

Her mother, Amanda De Courcy from Woodfield Road in Stevenage, spoke to the Comet following last week’s inquest. Courageous Amanda said: “The issue wasn’t so much her death by what the coroner said was recreational drugs – the issue for me, as her mum, was how does a person get into a position where they feel so helpless? “She was terribly depressed. She needed the hormone therapy. It was tragic she didn’t receive the help she needed from the NHS and her GP. “If she’d got the referral letter telling her she could have the hormone treatment a few days before, then things may have been different.

“The point is you have to have the referral letter to get the hormones. Why did she get so depressed? It was because she felt there was no way out and no help from the relevant authorities – and that needs changing.